School shootings have become more common and such a cause for concern that schools regularly host drills to prepare students and staff for such a situation. When they do happen, we focus on the lives lost. But survivors suffer, too.
David Schoenfeld is a developmental behavioral pediatrician and the director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement in Los Angeles.
He says survivors of mass shootings can struggle with guilt. "Often you see guilt in different formats, something I did, didn't do, should have done that might have changed the outcome," he said.
For example, he says, he's "had first grade teachers come up, and say to me, I knew there was something wrong with him, and I didn't do enough. And that's why he became the shooter."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, firearms recently became the No. 1 cause of death for children in the U.S.
